There Wolf
by LadyCerise1891
Summary: Mal really regretted being out in the woods at night. Was she attacked? No. Could she have been attacked by the werewolf that was apparently in her class? Yeah. Armed with this knowledge, she now needs to figure out what to do with it. Oh, and not get eaten. A/U.
1. chapter 1

She was not going to be another victim of the teen romance, mainstream supernatural corporate machine. It wasn't going to happen. She, Mal Faye, was going to stand strong.

"So, he's a what?"

Mal rolled her eyes and knocked Evie's hands out of her hair. "A werewolf, E! Ben Kingsley is a fricken werewolf."

"Like, Teen Wolf or Underworld?" She sighed and attempted to resume her task of braiding her friends hair. "Because I'm not seeing a downside. Though, I have to say I was always more into Stiles than Scott."

Mal groaned, frustrated, and batted the girl's hands away, again. "I'm being serious. He's a werewolf and those are fiction and this is real life."

Evie bit her lip thoughtfully as she abandoned her venture and sat beside her friend. The bed bounced lightly as she fell and got situated. They were silent for a second.

"Okay. He's a werewolf. So what?" Mal turned to her head to fix Evie with a glare. "I mean, okay, so don't be alone with him on a full moon."

"I won't be alone with him ever, E!" With that exclamation, Mal stood and began pacing. "For several reasons. Reason number one, werewolf. Duh. Reason number two, he's dating my main tormentor. Reason number three, we dont hang out in the same circles even though Jay seems to have the Midas Touch and gotten in the golden circle."

"Sure, but he's totally into you."

Mal stopped in her tracks. "Lastly, he's not into me!"

Evie sighed. "Okay, you're delusional. Still, I'll play along. He's not into you, but he does think you're friends. He also doesn't know that you know, presumably." She rested her hand in her open palm and batted her eyes innocently. "How are you going to avoid him, M?"

They had stayed up most of the night until exhaustion took them. They were nowhere near prepared for neither their history test or Mal's conundrum. At lunch, they enlisted the schools top nerd.

"You two really are crazy." Carlos tried to fake passed them and for the door. "Werewolves aren't real."

They blockaded the door and Mal chuckled darkly. "Don't I fricken wish. They're real and Ben, at least, is one of them. Maybe the whole Kingsley family."

Carlos stared up at them. They stared back, Evie was bored and Mal looking near psychotic. He weighed his chances and clearly decided entertaining the girls crazy was his chance for survival.

"Werewolf. Lycanthropy." He scratched his head and sat down on the teachers desk. "You sure you just haven't been watching too much Teen Wolf? I mean, Scott and Ben both have puppy dog like tendencies."

"He helped you get on the team. Why?"

"I don't know! I wanted on to try and make friends. I'm the youngest junior by a whole year." Carlos swung his feet solemnly. "He was nice and helped me train up."

"Listen. I know there are a lot of parallels. Ben is an all around sweetheart. He's captain of the lacrosse team." Mal rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed. "And every other team."

"So, you have been watching Teen Wolf."

"Research." Evie exaggerated her air quotes, earning a slap from her best friend. "Well, for her. I was in for the Stiles."

Carlos tried to play along as best he could, interjecting logic where he could. "This proves nothing. So, you saw him howl under a full moon. We had just won regionals. Maybe he was boozed up?"

"Ben Kingsley? Boozed up?" Carlos shook his head and sighed. "Besides, I have solid evidence."

"Allegedly."

"Not helping, Evie!" Mal groaned and rubbed her face with her hands. "I will show you, both of you. Just meet me at my aunt's house at 6. You're both coming over for dinner."

Carlos perked up at that. "Will Jane be there?"

"I think so? It's not a school night, so she could be going to one of those stupid cheer sleepover things." She saw him sag and decided to take pity on him. "I'll make sure she's there, okay? Just show up."

Mal wasn't sure what she was thinking as she stalked toward the locker rooms. She had managed to avoid interacting with Ben all day. She had ducked into class rooms, dipped out of study hall and straight up ignored him calling to her in crowded halls.

Going to the men's locker room was taking a gamble. She could end up face to face with the beast himself. She steeled her nerves, held her head high and stormed in any way.

"Dear God, why are you here?" She ignored the cat calls and smirked at Jay's horror stricken face. "You're a girl, could you act like one? For one damn day of your life."

Mal smirked and grabbed him by the ear. "Dinner." She pulled him down and he cried out. "Be there at 6."

She ignored his death glare as she smiled teasingly up at him. "Fine. Just get out of here. You've already caused enough trouble."

She gave that some thought. "Not today. I've actually kept it fairly low key."

"Yeah. So low key that you've completely given the team captain the cold shoulder and made the rest of us suffer for it." It was her turn to glower and she reached up to yank his ear, again. "Hey! I've been through enough abuse because of you, thanks. I've had my fill."

"Dinner at 6."

She almost made it out of the locker room, if it weren't for Ben's impeccable timing. "Hi, Mal." She gulped her eyes came level with the very chest she'd been avoiding. "Haven't seen you all day."

"Unfortunate."

He sighed and she backed away as his pecs expanded. "It really is. I've been trying to talk to you."

"Can't imagine why." He chuckled and she gulped. "Well, this has been fun. I'll see you around."

She heard him as she fled, "yes, you will."

She quickly moved through the school, eager to get as far away from Ben as possible. She didn't believe her friends when they said he had a crush on her, but she was well aware that he liked making her uncomfortable. She very rarely let him get the upper hand, but there was a constant state of unease for her part. He seemed to always know how to catch her by surprise.

"He can probably hear my shoes or sense my general disdain for, like, everything."

Evie sighed as the two made their way to Mal's house. "Or he knows the sound of your heartbeat. That is so romantic."

"It is not romantic, E! None of this is romantic." Mal huffed. "Or tragic. This is nuts and terrifying and marginally exciting, but it is not romantic."

"Right."

Mal rolled her eyes as she rummaged in her bag for her keys. She jiggled the lock and let them in. The sight of a frantic Jane, curlers in her hair, was what greeted them.

"Carlos is coming." Mal nodded. "You're sure? Oh God. Okay."

She squealed and did a quick turn around the room before running up the stairs. A second squeal ghosted down the stairs and they heard a loud a thump. Evie snickered as Mal led the way up the stairs. They reached the second level just in time catch Jane hurdling into the bathroom.

"I barely got his name out before she was texting Audrey to tell her she had a stomach bug." The two girls cackled as they fell into Mal's room. "She's the nicest girl, really. I'm so grateful Aunt Gloria took me in, but I really miss living in the dorms with you."

"Alas, no one could be a better roommate than me." Evie pouted playfully as she fell into Mal's desk chair. "Woe is you."

Mal rolled her eyes and grabbed her laptop off her nightstand. "Yeah, never mind. I take that back. You and your ego need a whole room."

Evie stuck her tongue in retaliation. "You two could grow up." The girls swivelled around to find Jay hauling in a reluctant Carlos. "Seriously."

"How about you get your butts in here and close the door. Seriously." She gave a sneer and waved them in. "I mean it. Get in here and close the door. I have to show you guys something."

Jay sighed and followed her orders. He shoved Carlos on the bed and leaned against its post. Evie rolled the chair over, and twirled a lock of hair as she watched Mal flip through her various folders.

"How deep did you bury this evidence?"

"I couldn't risk accidentally opening it. You never know when someone's going to be looking over your shoulder." She gave Evie a pointed glare. "Anyway, I know where it is. Plus, it's password encrypted. Which, let me tell you, took me forever to figure out."

"You're joking, right?" Mal glared at the younger boy and he raised his hands in defence. "You aren't. Forget I said anything. Computers are hard."

"Shut up, boy genius." Mal's brow scrunched as she clicked a few more folders. "Right, okay. I found it, just let me unlock it."

The other kids huddled around her as she clicked on the video file. "I was playing around with one of those cameras from the AV club. My art teacher recommended I should try photographer. Well, it's boring. So, I tried the video function."

She turned the volume up and expanded the video as it started. The lighting settings changed. They got a good chuckle as the recorded Mal swore and fumbled with the device.

"That, actually doesn't look completely terrible." The camera steadied and slowly did a sweep of the surrounding wilderness. "Okay, so, woods behind the school. I heard they were haunted. Doubtful, but what the hell?"

"Riveting stuff, Mals. Really." Jay moved to get up. "Glad I'm missing out on pizza night in the cafeteria for this."

She grabbed his shirt and pulled him back down. He begrudgingly focused on the footage. Then jerked back.

"What was that?" She paused the file, swore and finally managed to back it up. "Is that?"

"Ben changing from a fricken gigantic beast?" She let go of his shirt and let him stand up. "Yeah. Like I told you, I have evidence."

"Were you crying?"

Mal slammed the laptop closed. "What? I had just seen my classmate turn from beast to man. You would have been a little upset, too."

The four teens were quiet for a moment as they all avoided making eye contact. "So, what do we do? Cause, that's my team captain."

"I spent so much time alone with him while he was helping me train for the team." Carlos' eyes widened in horror. "He could have killed me."

"He could kill any of us." Evie stood up, as well. "Wait. Is it just him? Or is it his whole family? Oh, God, the Kingsley's are a family of werewolves."

"We don't know that! But, yeah, most likely. Could be several of the older families, actually. All of those upper crust freaks living up there in Auradon Court."

"The Charmings are too fickle. They would be found in an instant." Carlos snickered. "Or, they could be Omegas. If you're right and it's the whole lot of them, I would imagine pack mentality applies."

"Just like in Teen Wolf."

Mal slapped Evie on the arm. "Or just like with regular wolves. You have got to let the whole Teen Wolf thing go."

"I refuse."

Mal considered arguing further but her Aunt popped her head into the room. "Hi, kids. How are my favourite delinquents? You hungry?"

"Sounds good, Aunt G." Mal shoved Carlos off the bed. "We'll be down in a minute."

"Perfect. Jane is very excited." A frustrated cry came from the hall. "Oh, hush sweetie. She made a pumpkin pie for dessert and she is just so eager for you to try it."

Carlos tripped over himself following the older woman down the hall. The four of them ate in only a mildly awkward silence. Finally, Mal's curiosity got the better of her.

"So, there aren't any wolves in California." Her aunt and Carlos nodded. "Okay, cool, but what if someone had one for a pet? Or one got separated from its pack and wondered into California?"

"What are you getting at, dear?"

Jay kicked her under the table but Mal ignored him. "I was walking home the other night, like a couple of weeks ago, after studying with E. I think I heard a wolf in the woods."

"Oh, sweetie, I doubt that. I mean, animals aren't my specialty, by any stretch of the imagination." The older woman wiped the corner of her mouth thoughtfully and continued, "but I do think that it's illegal to have them as pets. As far as the separation scenario you posed, well, you could ask Mrs. Kingsley. She is rather smart and I think she worked for a vet for a time when she was in college."

The four shared a stricken look before returning their focus to their food. The topics stayed in the general. Jane nearly dropped her pie when it was time for dessert which managed to dispel some of the tension.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jane nodded as Carlos took the plate she offered him. "I bet it tastes amazing."

Evie sighed at the interaction and Mal resisted the urge to pretend gag. "That is so sweet. You should make Carlos treats more often, Jane. He really loves chocolate."

Jane nodded enthusiastically before squeaking. She fell into her chair and quickly shoved a forkful of pie in her mouth. Her mom smiled indulgently and swept a knowing look between the two kids.

Jane fled as soon as the dishes were washed and drying. "Well, I suppose she has the right idea." Mal's aunt gave her shoulder a tired squeeze. "I'm going to bed. If the boys stay over, they sleep in the basement."

"Yes, ma'am."

They waited until Gloria was out of sight before they all collapsed on a couch. "You guys staying over?"

"Hell yeah. I am not going out there tonight."

"Well, yeah. Staying in would be the logical thing." Mal shook her head. "But we can't. Tonight is the first night of the lunar cycle. He'll probably be out there tonight. We need more evidence."

"You're insane."

Mal scoffed but Evie nodded. "He's right. We can't go out there. We don't have a way to defend ourselves. Let's just stay in tonight and we'll do more research."

"We need more proof, guys."

"And we'll get it. Just not tonight."

Mal glowered at all of them. She huffed and pressed herself further into the back of the couch, arms crossed. As they conferred on various movie facts and lore, she contemplated how best to sneak out of the house.

 _A/N: Thanks for reading everyone. This is just going to be another short little multi-chapter. Not very long. Hope you enjoyed part 1. Much love from this cheeseball writer._


	2. Chapter 2

Mal rubbed her arms to dispel the goosebumps that exploded across her exposed skin. She regretted not grabbing a jacket, but Evie was a light sleeper. She'd made plenty of noise opening the stiff window to make her escape. Then there was the ruckus she'd made when she fumbled her attempt to climb down the trellis on the side of the house.

She shivered and checked the time on her phone. The front panel sported a new crack and she groaned at the realisation it was busted for good. Flipping it open with a sniff, she found it was well passed 11.

"Come on, Mal." She closed the phone and shoved it back into her back pocket. "Plenty of time."

With a minor limp, she picked up her pace and continued on toward the school. She found the break in the wall that surrounded the property she'd used before to get to the woods. The lights from Auradon Court on the other side of the wilderness gave her pause as she considered her situation.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she pushed forward. Ignoring the cold and the dread, she pulled the camera she'd pilfered from Jane out of her bag. It was older than the school's, but had a night vision setting for reasons she could not comprehend.

As she fiddled with it, her feet instinctively following the path to the clearing she'd stumbled upon before. Sniffing, she lifted the device and took a surveillance sweep to make sure it hadn't been broken during her decent to the yard. Satisfied that it was working as best she could tell, she settled on the clearing that was steadily coming into view.

"Okay. So, first night of the lunar cycle. If any of the lore is true, werewolves should be active at this time." She wiped her nose absentmindedly before continuing, "so, Ben should be out. In theory."

As her nose quickly resumed running, she huffed and wiped it once more. "Need a Kleenex?"

Mal screamed and lurched forward. She stumbled through the tree line and into the clearing. Shaking she fell to her knees and desperately kept her eyes on the ground.

"Mal?"

She gulped. "Ben." Her fingers flexed against the device in her hands. "What are you doing out here? Alone. At night."

"I was just about to ask you." She heard him move forward, the sound of his footfalls clearly exaggerated as she had never heard him be so clumsy before. "Couldn't sleep. Took a hike and ended up here. I had a weird day."

"Unfortunate."

His chuckle was sarcastic. "It really is." He stepped in front of her and his shoes came into her line of sight. "How have you been?"

She shook her head and tried to keep the camera out of view. "Could be better. I just got the shit scared out of me by some jerk from school."

"Unfortunate," he parroted. "What are you filming? You were pretty focused."

Stifling a cry of frustration, she looked up. "I, uh, heard the woods were haunted. Wanted to see if it was true. You could call it an independent study project."

"Is that what you were doing out here before." She let her eyes travel up his jean clad legs, loose zip-up covered torso and finally settle on his face. "Nearly a month back. I'm pretty sure it was you."

She hoped he couldn't see her face pale further under the light of the moon. "You were in the woods that night?" He nodded, his eyes shadowed under messy hair and the hood of his sweater. "Did you see anything?"

"You." She knew her shaking was for reasons other than the cool autumn night. "Did anything show up on your footage?"

"Inconclusive."

Her teeth chattered as the cold and fear seeped into her blood. "Can I see it?" She shook her head, frantic to end the encounter. "Why not? Maybe I'll see something you don't."

"Not yet." She shoved the camera into her bag and fell backwards as she tried to stand. "I'm still reviewing it. You'll see it if I find what I'm looking for."

He looked down, taking note of her shaking knees and reached down without a thought. She grunted as he pulled her to her feet, easily. Mal collected herself in time to jerk back as he moved to start putting her to rights.

"I can manage myself, thanks."

He cocked his head and chuckled. "Always have to be the tough guy, don't you." With that he took off his hood and revealed his usual carefree smile. "Someone helping you every now and then doesn't make you any less capable."

She felt her pulse slow as he reminded her of the kind boy she'd met the prior year. "I know." He reached out and flicked her nose, taking her by surprise for the second time that night. "Hey! What the hell, Ben?"

"Punishment. That's what you get for trespassing." He laughed as she glowered at him. "Fine, for technically trespassing. This land did use to be my families before we sold it."

"You mean you used to own even of more of this god awful place than you do now?"

His smile wavered. "It's not so bad. It's safe."

"Yeah. From anything fun." She adjusted her bag strap and looked up at him defiantly. "I used to live in Seattle, you know."

"Yeah. This place must seem pretty dull by comparison." He looked like he was trying to stay encouraging, but she could tell she'd wounded him somehow. "Hey, maybe after you graduate you can go to Washington State or something."

"That's the plan."

He huffed and dropped his smile completely. "Of course it is." She looked up at him curiously but it was his turn to ignore her. "I'll walk you back."

She stiffened as her reason for being out that night came crashing back to the forefront of her mind. "No!" He raised a brow and a small smirk pulled at one corner of his mouth. "I mean, I'm not done. I didn't see whatever I saw until, like, 1."

She subconsciously pulled out her phone to check the time. "Shoot." She begrudgingly flipped it open to see it was a little after 12. "I have about an hour to go before I even think about calling it a night."

He stared down at the device in her hand with a look of horror. "That's your phone? How old is it?"

She looked down, unsure of how to answer. "I don't know. It was my aunt's before I moved here. She gave it to me when I transferred in last year in case of emergencies."

He gave her an incredulous look and watched thoughtfully as she put it in her pocket once more. They were quiet for a time as he continued to look at her. She realised then how her friends could mistake his looks for ones of affection. He had a general affectionate nature, but she never considered it intentional. She knew then, as she had in the past, this look was one of contemplation.

She was a puzzle he was working, but pieces seemed to be missing. She'd thought that of herself many a time. Sometimes, she'd thought that of him, too.

"It's not safe out here, Mal."

She blinked and took a step back. "Why not?"

"There are animals out here. Bears, cougars."

"Wolves?"

He stiffened. "Wolves haven't been in California in a long time."

"Could have wondered in."

He shook his head and took a step back, as well. "Trust me, the last thing you should be afraid of are wolves. Be afraid of cougars."

She tried to be flippant, but knew it was a hard sell at that point. "Well, what about ghosts? Because that is what I'm here to film and I won't be talked down."

He sighed and gave her a sideways glance. "If you insist on staying, I'll stay with you." She shook her head. "Why not?"

"You're a big guy. You'll scare them away." She subconsciously wrung the strap of her bag between her hands. "I'm small and therefore non-threatening. So, by comparison, I'm less likely to scare them off."

He stood firm, face hard for the first time since she'd known him. "God. Fine, you ass. I'll leave, but I'm going alone."

"Fine."

She turned on her heal and quick marched into the forest. She refused to look back over her shoulder. She was not going to allow him to see his affect on her.

Clumsily, she manoeuvred through the trees. She pulled the camera back out and woke it up, having had enough of her wits to not turn it off completely. Flipping open the small screen on the side, she did a sweep of the woods.

Feeling glum over the turn of events, She toyed with the idea of genuinely calling it a night. It was then she heard a twig snap. It was faint, coming from somewhere in the distance behind her, and she froze.

Carefully, she turned around and watched the night vision feed from the camera. Something moved in the trees and her breath caught. Inching forward, she zoomed in as much as possible.

Finally, it came into view. The beast. A wolf at first glance, but once you saw it there was no doubt it was more. Large and graceful, it stalked through the woods sniffing an unseen trail.

The path she'd taken from clearing.

Realising he was coming to her, she snapped the device shut. Ditching her attempts at stealth, she shoved it in her bag and took off. Sprinting clumsily, and falling more than once, she took off for the fence.

Once out of the woods and off school grounds, she took off in a dead run for home. Chest heaving, pretty sure she was bleeding from more than a few scrapes, she didn't slow. She slammed into the trellis and climbed as best she could.

"What the?" Evie jerked up in bed as Mal forced the window open and fell into the room with a cry of relief. "Mal! You went out?"

Evie looked down at her small, muddied and sweaty friend. The other girl looked up at her, eyes wide and wild. Tears spilled over as she came to terms with her safety and she cried on the floor of her room.

 _A/N: There's chapter 2 down. The initial reviews have been amazing. This one was light on humour, but so fun. Thanks a million to all my readers. Much love from this cheeseball writer._


	3. chapter 3

"He followed you?" Evie was pale as Mal relayed the encounter, again. "Like, as a giant wolf."

"Yeah."

Jay swore under his breath and clenched his fists. Carlos was busy playing with the footage, solely focussed on the task of cleaning it up. Evie was stationed beside Mal, the two huddled together under a large comforter.

Mal watched as they continued dissecting her accounts. She had watched the footage from the night before several times as sleep evaded her. He had been following her trail, it was obvious. She knew what the shape was, but even she had to admit the quality wasn't good enough for definitive proof to an outside observer.

"What do we do?"

Mal looked up to meet Jay's eyes. "Nothing?" She shrugged as he exclaimed his frustration. "We know, but what can we do at this point? If we take this to anyone of authority we would be laughed at."

"And possibly cited for harassment or slander or something." Carlos didn't move his eyes from the computer screen as he spoke. "She's right. We can't do anything yet. We'll have to take preventative measures to make sure we're not alone at night or with Ben anymore."

"Yeah."

The boys and Evie stayed long enough to have breakfast before Gloria shooed them away. The boys had lacrosse and the girls had homework. Mal considered her predominate as long as she could.

It was Sunday evening at the Poison Apple Cafe when she was face to face with her problem, yet again. Both of them. She'd been naive to presume that the universe would leave her be until Monday.

"Well, hello, dragon lady."

Her eyes rose to meat Audrey's as she finished passing off the previous orders cup to the barista. "Hi, Audrey. I told you, the dragon lady is my mom. I'm a dragonette."

The girl rolled her eyes, but her companion smirked. "That sounds familiar. Is that from something?"

"McCaffrey." Mal tried to keep eye contact with him but lost the battle when he winked. "Dragonflight."

"The original mother of dragons." He smiled and leaned on the counter, invading her personal space. "I'm rather fond of dragons, actually."

"Huh." He raised a brow in challenge. "I mean, you always seemed a more wolf guy to me. Bet you have a bit of a beast hidden inside you, right Ben?"

He cocked his head back and gave her a slow, curious once over. "I might. Wanna see it?"

"Oh my God, Ben." Audrey looked up from her phone to pass a disgusted look between the two. "I'm right here."

"Right. Sorry."

She folded her arms and glared at him. "Sorry?" She raised her eyebrows and looked to Mal as if requesting support. "You're sorry. You shameless flirt with another girl in front of me for months and now you apologise?"

"Hey, he's not flirting."

Ben didn't even bother to pretend looking sheepish. "No, she's right." Audrey released a hallow bark of a laugh. "What? Would you rather I lie now?"

"It's like you want to just make me mad." She threw her hands in the air, clearly at her wits end. "Why don't you just ask her to homecoming?"

"That is an excellent idea." Ben turned all his focus back to Mal, and flashed an eager smile. "Mal, seeing as I've just broken up with my girlfriend and have been chasing you for the better part of half a year, will you come to homecoming with me?"

As Mal looked between the two, shocked into silence, Audrey began texting with furious speed. "You know what, Ben. Fine. Take the she-devil. Chad said he would "love" to take me." She squared him with a victorious smirk. "So I don't need your pity date."

"Good for you." His genuine happiness at his now ex-girlfriend's quick rebound confused Mal even further. "So, Mal, Homecoming?"

"Uh, yeah?" The words were out of her mouth before she could finish processing the odd turn of events. "Wait! I mean, you guys just broke up? Is that appropriate? We haven't even been on a date."

Ben nodded, smile dipping. "That's true." Then his eyes lit up. "Good point. I'll pick you up Saturday at noon. We'll go for a hike. Heard the forest is haunted. Could be fun."

Audrey released a cry of anger. "You two can have each other! You're both ridiculous."

"Ridiculously adorable?"

She slapped him. The sound echoed through the quiet cafe. A good majority eaves dropping patrons winced in sympathy.

"You are going to regret this."

With that she gave a huff of finality and stormed from the building. Ben watched her go, frowning. Mal fidgeted with her marker, unsure of how to proceed.

"Bold move. You think she'll forgive you?"

"Someday." He shrugged, but kept his eyes on the door. "We'd been stagnant for a while. I think I stayed with her as long as I did out of familiarity."

"Weird way to shake things up."

He chuckled and shook his head. "I'm not shaking things up, Mal. That's your job." He pulled out his wallet and looked at the stack of cups expectantly. "I'd like a Dragons Eye."

"No sleep for you tonight, then."

"The full moon messes with my sleep cycles." He smirked as he handed off a ten. "You know how it is."

She subconsciously pulled out his change, taken by surprise once more. "I can't say I do. Or do I?"

He laughed and walked off to the pick up station to await his drink. "Hold on. Do I?" He continued to laugh to himself as he walked out of the cafe, drink in hand. "Ben!"

She stressed through the remainder of her shift. Frantic with the implications of the encounter, she bribed her supervisor to allow her to leave before close. The thought of being out too late into the night filled her veins with ice.

She didn't know why, but when she was free of the cafe, she walked to the dorms instead of going home. "Mal?" She pushed passed Evie and fell onto the empty second bed. "What's wrong."

"I'm going to homecoming with Ben?" Evie sputtered at the revelation. "Oh, and apparently we're going on a date next Saturday. Supposedly the woods are haunted and it could be fun."

"The hell, Mal?"

"I know!"

Evie was quiet for a moment. "I told you he had a thing for you."

"I hate you." Mal sat up and glated at her friend. "Are you forgetting that he's a werewolf and we're supposed to be avoiding him?"

"No, I know. Still, it's not often I get to prove you wrong." She snickered despite the dark mood of the purple haired girl. "I just want to revel in it for a moment."

"Whatever. Let me know when your done being excited about my impending death."

That put things back into perspective for Evie. "Okay. So, how are you going to get out of it."

Mal pouted as she considered her limited options. "I don't know."

Evie sat across from the girl on her own bed. They were silent, neither able to fully focus on the matter at hand. The blue haired girl fidgeted and kept shooting Mal anxious glances.

"Mal?"

"Fine."

Evie squealed and propelled over the small gap between beds to embrace her friend. "I know he's a werewolf. I know you have to cancel, but it's so cute!" She tightened the hug. "Ben Kingsley has crush on you."

"Okay. You've had your moment." Mal shoved her off. "Seriously, enough."

"Right. So, maybe you have a stomach bug next weekend. Yeah?"

 _A/N: Well, this is moving steadily along. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Things are happening. Your reviews give me life. Much love from this cheeseball writer._


	4. Chapter 4

Ben was everywhere. He was waiting for her at her locker, outside of classrooms to walk with her and even managed having her lunch tray ready for her. She tried avoiding him, she really did, but he was there even when it was impossible.

"You don't have English this period." She glared at him as he happily leaned against the back wall behind her desk. "Seriously. Go away."

"If you must know," he had the nerve to move from the wall and crouch beside her. "I'm actually here for a make up test. I had an appointment off campus last week and missed it."

She glowered and focused on the board at the front of the room. From the corner of her eye she could see Evie watching them with an amused chagrin. Even Lonnie was snickering in front of her, shoulders jerking as she tried to covertly sneak peaks behind her.

Mal kicked the girl's chair and she snapped forward. A snort of laughter still found its way back. Her look darkened further and the teacher considered the group with an exasperated air.

"You four!" Evie groaned and began gathering her things. "Go to the corners."

Mal hissed, "thanks a lot!" Ben seemed genuinely distraught at the turn of events. "You couldn't just sit somewhere."

By the time her sketchbook and notes were packed away there was only one corner desk left. Audrey met her eyes then looked to the seat to her left, almost mockingly. The class seemed to hold its breath as Mal moved through the rows to her temporary desk.

"Thank you." The teacher sarcastically droned as she returned to her lecture. "Now, as I was saying, since we are beginning our study on fairy tales, I would like to know where you all stand with them. Also, boy's, I apologise but this includes you as well. You will be tasked with writing an essay. Nothing terrible, I promise. This will be in class, and I don't want to burden you all with having to use the entirety of your brain power."

She began forcefully marking up the board with instructions. "I want you to cover these points: favourite fairy tale, a brief explanation of why, what the teller could have done better, what you would do different and which film version you liked best. A brief section supporting the movie wouldn't be frowned upon."

"Miss?" The teacher gave a sound of acknowledgement as she wrote. "What do you mean favourite film? There's, like, only one Sleeping Beauty."

"As if." Mal snorted and paused in her writing to regard the girl next to her. "I can think of at least one SyFy channel version. Disney doesn't own the rights to the whole story, just they're version. Also, I'm rather disappointed that that is your favourite fairy tale. I somehow expected more from you."

"Oh, really?" Audrey straightened her back and managed to look down at Mal even though they were sitting. "What's your favourite then? You're so smart, impress me."

"Not that I need to, but Beauty and the Beast, actually." There was the sound of choking from the back of the room and she turned in time so Ben duck his red face from view. "I like the consistency across the versions."

"Versions?"

"Sleeping Beauty: A Tale of Terror, is my favourite movie."

Mal pointed blindly to where Evie was sitting, noting that her point was proven. "Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is the only bearable version I've seen." With a shrug, she return her focus to her paper. "To assume that there is only one interpretation of a story is the act of a very narrow mind."

"You don't have to be better all the time, you know."

Shocked at the defeated tone of her rival's rebuttal, Mal looked over, again. Audrey was looking back at Ben, her expression almost vulnerable. It was then the purple haired girl realised she's been pretty narrow minded herself.

"If it's any consolation, I think this whole Homecoming thing is a simple comedy of errors."

Audrey put her mask of indifference back in place and returned to her own work. Mal took the hint and finished off her short essay. The paper had been half written before the teacher even finished listing off the instructions.

"What do we do with the remainder of the period?"

The teacher dutifully reached her hand out and Mal got up from her desk to hand it off. "You may go to study hall and work on any other assignments you have." She wrote Mal a hall pass. "Or, whatever. I've already posted this segments project outline on the classes homework forum."

Mal eagerly took the pass and left the classroom. She stopped by her locker to grab her Chem course work and fiddle with her phone. The dang thing had taken to spontaneously coming out of silent mode and blasting her text notifications at random intervals and volumes.

"You should get that replaced." She gave a cry of surprise and the phone fumbled from her fingers. "I do not remember you being this clumsy."

She winced as the phone clattered to the bottom of her locker. "Well, you never used to sneak up on me."

"Yes I did."

She finished gathering her things and closed the locker decisively. "Sure. Maybe you did. That was all before you decided to be weird and ask me out." She tried to stay disinterested as she gave in and looked at him. "This is on you. I thought you had a test."

"Finished."

"Of course."

She turned on her heel, making her way to study hall but he kept up with her. "Wait. So, you think it's weird that I asked you out?" He laughed out right, not seeming to care that they were surrounded by classes still in session. "Oh, no. You actually do."

She huffed and deliberately looked forward. "You'd been jumpy for nearly a week. I thought you were just, I don't know, finally being warn down. You mean, you haven't been nervous around me cause you have a crush on me, too."

"Ben," and she paused as she realised she surprisingly didn't have an answer. "Look, you got what you wanted. We're going out tomorrow. Let's just try and survive that."

His face was the hard mask, again. She blinked in surprise as he simply shook his head and shoved passed her into the room. She looked after him, completely taken off guard by his hostility. Unsure of herself, yet again, she followed him in and attempted to take a seat on the opposite side of the room.

"You don't get to act like this is a chore for me." He quickly blocked her escape. "I was actually looking forward to tomorrow, and Homecoming. So here's what's gonna happen, and I need you to follow along with this. You are going to act like your surly, devil may care, fiendish self. No more jumpy and shy. It's unnerving and very telling. I am going to go on in blissful ignorance of your abhorrence for me."

"I don't abhors you, Ben."

"Could have fooled me."

The room was silent as the few students occupants and the teacher waited to see Mal's response. "I mean, one date won't be super dreadful. I guess."

And, swallowing her terror and pride, she sat down in the seat next to the one he had claimed. The teacher eyed them as he came around to retrieve they're passes. After a few seconds the rest of the class lost interest and returned to their own work.

When the bell tolled, Mal fled from the room. She attempted to walk with her usual confident air, but the wind had been knocked from her sails. She'd actually hurt his feelings and was upset, herself, about.

There were many things wrong with this whole situation. Firstly, she was pretty sure he was just playing with the dark side to get a quick thrill. Second, He was a werewolf and she shouldn't feel sympathy for distancing herself from him. Lastly, she didn't have a thing for him.

"Sure, he's cute." The next morning she was still trying to reason away her gloom as Evie assisted in making her look like a real girl. "I mean, if you're into the whole carefree puppy, cinnamon role vibe. Which sounds a little like bestiality mixed a food fetish and who wants that?"

"Other than you?" She forceful tugged Mal's head as she worked a braid into her friend's hair. "Audrey. She is not happy that he hasn't come grovelling back, yet. Even though I have caught her and Chad making out under the bleachers whenever I go to pass off my Chem notes."

"Oh, can I look at those? I'm still only averaging a C in that class, and I'm really working my ass off." Evie gave a distracted assent. "You shouldn't let them get to you. Chad's a jerk, anyway. Besides, you know he's only been using you for your big, beautiful brain this whole time."

"Is it so wrong that I want my own Prince Charming?"

Mal resisted the urge groan since Evie was moving on to her makeup, but couldn't suppress her eye roll. "E, just cause his last name is "Charming" does not make him Prince Charming. And what do you mean by "my own?"

"Please! Ben may be a werewolf, but he's still Ben." She sat back to admire her work. "He'll be sweet and kind and considerate. You'll pretty much fall in love. You're half way there."

Mal heaved a sigh but the other girl was having none of it. "No. Listen. If this whole supernatural creature by night thing hadn't come about, you would have been thrilled. For no other reason then it would cause Audrey distress. Even still, you would have been excited, in you're own blackened way.

"So, just for today, let's pretend that we don't know. Let's be normal girls and giggle, only a little, because you got asked out by the captain of everything. We'll say we wanna throw up but know it's just butterflies and giggle a little over that, too." She played with the lipstick tube in her hand. "Tonight we'll stay up late over analysing everything and somehow still be able to wake up in the morning, stomachs still full of butterflies. I promise we can go back to worrying about werewolves on Monday."

Mal let her apply a bit of lipstick before she responded, deadpanned, "I don't giggle." Evie snorted and the girls did laugh then. "Okay, so, I'm going on a date with Captain Everything." She paused, her eyes going wide as that part sunk in for the fist time all week. "Oh, shit. I'm going on a date with Captain Everything."

"There it is."

"What am I doing, E?" A knock on the bedroom door cut Evie's response off. "Yes?"

"Mal, sweetie, Ben is here." Her aunt tried to hide her smitten expression, clearly already on board with the couple before the first date was over. "Are you ready, or should I make him sweat?"

"I'm ready."

Mal could tell her friend was hiding her own eagerness. The other girl quickly replaced her things in her bag and lead the two out of the room. She looked over her shoulder one last time before winking, and flinging the front door open.

"Hey, Evie." Mal lingered by the stairs, nervous for reasons she didn't want to explore. "Always a pleasure. She ready?"

"Sure is. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She signalled Mal forward and took a second of satisfaction at Ben's quick change from jovial to stunned. "That's what I thought. Have fun, you two. I'll see you later, Mal."

Her gleeful goodbye hung in the air as silence took over. Ben visibly gulped, and let his eyes wonder as he took her in. She tried to not fidget with the hemline of their dress.

"For the first time, I understand what true beauty is." That seemed to break the spell, and Ben grimaced. "God, that was cheesy. I did not mean to say that out loud."

"Well, I thought it was sweet." It was Mal's turn to blush as she realised Aunt G was still behind her. "You two should get going. Don't want to let this beautiful day go to waste."

She followed Mal to the door. Ben seemed to banish his embarrassment and an easy smile took over his face. Silently, he reached out for her in an offering. Taking a steadying breath, she put her hand in his and tried not flinch when the door clicked shut behind her.

 _A/N: Sorry for the delay, y'all. I didn't mean to cause any concern or disatisfaction with you wonderful readers. I do have to admit, I have been in a weird state of limbo. I think I'm getting better and I will do my best to do right by you._

 _Along that same vain, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you. Reviews, messages, favourites, follows; all your correspondence make this worth it. Thank you a million times over. Love from this cheeseball writer._


	5. Chapter 5

She hadn't been expecting a scooter. The little Vespa cruised lazily through Auradon. Ben was humming something, she could feel the vibrations, but she couldn't hear the tune over the sound of engine. The afternoon sun warmed the air enough that they wouldn't need jackets once they were off the scooter.

She felt her pulse quicken as they turned into the Auradon Court gated community. He wove through parked cars and made his way up Coronation Terrace. She had seen his house from a distance before. She had never managed to get invited to one of the ultra exclusive varsity parties that had been housed there in the passed, so she never seen it up close. She had a feeling she wasn't going to just yet, either.

As she predicted, he pulled off to the side of the security fence that surrounded his parent's estate and parked the Vespa. "Where are going?" He didn't answer but instead chuckled and helped her to get her helmet off without dismantling Evie's work on her hair. "Seriously? I thought you said we were going to woods?"

"The best way to get there is through my back yard. Like I said, my family did own it." She faltered, feeling the familiar fear of going into the woods with him, knowing what he was. "I know the woods like the back of my hand, Mal. You're safe with me."

She looked up into into his hazel eyes. The sincerity in his voice, the conviction, managed to somehow calm her. Despite what his more beastly side may be, she did have to remind herself he was also a boy. He very much felt emotions and could possibly even have a crush on her. Maybe.

"So, how far in are you going to take me before you think it's safe to burry my body?" He chuckled, but kept leading her on. "I'm just saying. Any further and I may start to get nervous."

"What? I don't make you nervous already?" Her jaw went slack at the suggestive tone his voice took. "We're almost there, honestly. In the meantime, I have a question."

She waited him for him to go on, but realised that he was waiting for her to give her consent. "Sure. Fire away."

"Why did you move here from Seattle?"

"You know why. Audrey made sure everyone knew." He didn't say anything and she let out a suffering sigh. "Okay, so, you know my mom was incarcerated. Well, she wasn't arrested for murder like Audrey wanted everyone to think. No, nothing so cool. Mallory Faye simply tried to black mail Audrey's grandparents."

"What?"

Mal blushed and scratched her nose. "Yeah." She cleared her throat before continuing, "they were living there at the time. She used to work in PR for them before she was let go for being too aggressive, I guess. She never gave me the full story, just her version. Which, as you could imagine, was pretty biased."

His silence was enough to tell her that that wasn't what he meant. "My Aunt is the only family I have left. I don't know who my dad is. My mom just said he was a loser." She snorted. "Said I was just like him some times when she was being catty, but whatever."

"What about your grandparents?"

She shrugged but remembered he couldn't see her. "Who knows. Dead, I think."

They were silent for a bit, but once the words started, they kept flowing. "I don't even know if my "aunt" and my mom are actually related. I know they went to college together at SCU. To this day, my mother still won't tell me anything. I get letters sometimes, but they're all vein and superficial. That's mom, though."

"What's your middle name?"

"What?" She stopped in her tracks, confused by the sudden change of subject. "My middle name? Sure, why not. My middle name is Bertha."

"That's awful."

She snorted and took a quick step forward so she could shove him. "Shut up. I mean, it is, but shut up."

"Mine is Florian." It was his turn to snort at her cry of shock. "Yeah. Apparently I'm descended from a long dead French noble line, on my dad's side. Mom wanted to go with Maurice after her dad who was a French immigrant, and an amazing artist. Dad wanted Florian. I don't know how he won that argument, but he did."

She laughed so hard it got caught in her throat. "At this point, I'm too afraid to ask. My mom is a pretty formidable force, so what was his counter argument?"

"Nope. Don't wanna know."

"Exactly." He paused before turning around so suddenly she nearly ran into him. "At least it's not "Bertha."

"You jerk!" He held his hands up in defence as she gave him a joking slap on the arm. "Are we nearly there or not?"

"We're here, kind of."

He swept his arm out wide, signalling her to walk past him. She rolled her eyes, but took his cue and broke through the tree line. She looked around the clearing curiously, a feeling of familiarity filling her but she couldn't recall being there.

"This the clearing we met in the other night." She felt her eyes widen as that fact set in. "I wanted you to see it in the day light, since most people seem to only come here at night. The whole "haunted" thing, and all."

She laughed, and cringed at how forced it sounded. "Right. Cause of the "haunted" thing." She swallowed hard against the lump of her throat, taking a moment to look around. "Oh, wow. This is really pretty."

It was one of the most beautiful sights she'd ever experienced outside of photos online. The whole area was filled with wild flowers and grass just high enough to brush your calves. The trees acted as an odd sort of natural fencing, protecting and containing the simple extravagance.

"This isn't the last stop." She jumped as he whispered in her ear. "Seemed too "teen supernatural romance" for us. I have somewhere else in mind."

He rubbed her shoulders, surely feeling her tension. He gave her a quick squeeze and she jumped. Releasing a defeated sigh, he dropped his hands. Moving in front of her, again, he signalled her to follow him to the other side of the clearing.

"I think you'll like the next place."

She let him lead her further into the woods. Her trepidation grew as they moved further in. She had never been that deep. She tried not look anxious when he paused to usher her in front of him, again. Taking a deep breathe, she let him cover her eyes to guide her, carefully, the last steps towards his surprise.

When he finally dropped her hands, she left her eyes closed for a second longer before slowly blinking into the light. "Oh my god." Before her was a beautiful, Grecian inspired gazebo. "Ben, this is amazing."

"You like it?" She eagerly ate up the view of the lake, that was fed by a small waterfall almost directly across from them. "I'm going to take your silence as a sign that you like it."

"It's gorgeous." She took ginger steps forward, trying not to slip and fall on the unfamiliar terrain. "Seriously, how did you find this place?"

"I think it was part of resort in the 60s? I don't really know." She heard him mumble about how he should ask, but then he said louder, "I just really wanted to take you somewhere special. Somewhere I didn't think anyone else has seen, at least not recently."

She felt him walk up behind her as she paused in front of the blanket and cooler he had waiting for them. "You deserved something unique, special. I can't do magic, obviously, but this place is pretty magical on it's own."

Despite the fact that he was a werewolf. Despite the fact that she was pretty sure her ancient and half defective phone didn't get a signal that far into the woods. Despite all the obvious checks of the dumb teen victim in a horror movie list she was meeting, she found herself having the most fun she had ever had outside of her small group of friends.

He was kind and inquisitive. He was so genuinely eager to get to know her and put her at ease, she nearly forgot all she had learned in the last few weeks. She wished with all her heart that she hadn't found him out, and that she could've returned his enthusiasm equally.

As they were finishing they're desert, powered donuts with strawberry filling, he was smiling softly at her. "First time?"

"Oh, well, kind of." She scratched her nose, embarrassed. "I mean, I'm not sure what we did in Seattle could really be classified as "dating." At least, not the crowd I ran with. It was more like gang activity."

He chuckled and pointed at his nose to give some signal she didn't understand. "No. I mean the donut." His eyes twinkled as he leaned in a bit closer. "You inhaled that thing like a starving woman."

She blinked and looked down at her hands. Powder was nearly everywhere. She groaned as she looked down at the skirt of her dress to discover that it dusted with the remnants of her treat. Once the mess was pointed out, she felt her face heat up at the thought of what her face must look like and that there was most definitely powder on her nose since she had scratched it.

"Darn nervous tick."

She looked up and squeaked as his face took over her whole line of sight. As she had been having an internal freakout of her monstrous eating habits, he had moved forward enough for them to be nearly nose to nose. She heard her breathing go shallow as his eyes lazily took in her face, pausing at her lips.

"I take it you like strawberry." He carefully raised a hand to wipe off her bottom lip. "Your lipstick is the same shade."

His words were thoughtful, and it made her stomach flip. She nodded slowly, not sure how to respond. Then he blinked, as if suddenly realising what he was doing.

Smiling easily, content that his task was accomplished, he leaned back. "Let's go swimming." She couldn't keep up with his rapid subject changes. "Come on. The water won't be that cold. It's California."

"Northern California." She quickly wiped her hands on her abused napkin as a distraction. "I, uh, don't think so. I didn't bring my suit, so, maybe next time."

She cleared her throat only to cough on her own spit when he nonchalantly began taking on off his shirt. "Who wears suits anymore?" He winked and shucked his pants and shoes easily. "It'll be fun."

She was trying to think of response as he was taking off his socks, but she caught sight of his novelty boxers. "Are those crowns?" He blushed as he looked down at them. "You have crowns on your boxers."

"Maybe."

"Cause your name is "Kingsley?" She forced herself to quickly skim up his muscular form and meet his eyes. "You are such a dork."

"Well, yeah. It's part of my charm." As if she was suddenly the one making him uncomfortable, he jumped into the lake and somehow managed to splash her in the process. "See, not that cold yet, scaredy cat."

She huffed grumpily and gave him her signature "Mal Glare." He laughed and swam further in. She watched gloomily as he played around, absentmindedly nibbling on another donut.

"Hey, Ben, its getting late." She looked around the lake but couldn't see him. "Ben?"

She began to get nervous when she realised she couldn't hear the splashing anymore. She looked up at the sky, panic setting in as the sky was beginning to darken. Even though she knew they were out of the full moon cycle, the thought of being out at night in the woods with him was enough to make her feel sick.

"Ben!" Armed with the knowledge that she would get lost without him, she prepared to get in the water. "You can do this."

Fighting back a sniffle, she got up to take off her boots when hands on her shoulders made her scream. "Hey, calm down." He started to laugh the incident off until she began crying. "Wait, Mal, what's wrong?"

"I thought you had drowned! They say you can get cramps if you swim too soon after eating." She felt her chest heave as she tried to catch her breath between sobs. "I was going to try and find you."

He went to hold her but she backed up quickly. "This seems like a strong reaction to finding out I'm not dying at the bottom of rather deep lake. What's really going on?"

"I can't swim!"

"And you were still going to try and "save me?" He tried to call humour back into the situation but she shook her head. "Just say it, Mal."

Her hands gripped at her dress, fisting and releasing the fabric as if it would ease her fear. She looked up at the sky, and gulped. Night time was setting in fast.

"I don't want to be out here at night. It's not safe." He was standing before her, arms akimbo. "It's not safe to be out here with you at night."

His hands ran through his hair as he turned away from her, still relatively calm. "So, you do know." She began crying, again. "Mal, please, stop crying."

"Just say it! Say it so I can know I'm not crazy."

He turned back around and considered her through his fingers. "You want me to say it?" She nodded and tried not sob openly as he considered the request. "Fine. I'll say it. Mal, I'm a werewolf."

 _A/N: Thanks for your patience, everyone. I had fun with this one. It's getting intense. Reviews are amazing. Thanks to all my readers for your support! Love from this cheeseball writer._


	6. Chapter 6

They didn't speak as Ben lead Mal back to the entrance of the forest. She blinked back the last of her tears as she tried to put her helmet back on. He sighed and gently moved her hands out of the way.

Once he was sure it was secure, he threw a leg over the scooter, and offered his hand to assist her onto the back of the scooter. She wrapped her shaking arms around his middle and attempting to keep them as loose as possible. He leaned forward to start the scooter, but paused when he realised how limp her grip was.

"Mal." She closed her eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."

Clenching her teeth, she forced herself to tighten her grip on him. "The last thing I would ever do is hurt you." She tried to not feel guilty at the mournful tone his voice took. "Let's just get you home."

Satisfied with her relative safety, he started the Vespa and began the task of taking her home. She wanted to enjoy being close to him, to focus solely on how special the day had been. Even though she had already known, everything had still been tainted by his admission. All she could see was the beast, stalking her out of the woods the other night.

"I'm so sorry, Mal." She paused and let his practiced hands take the helmet off of her, again. "I never wanted this. Until I saw you after I got out of the water, I had no idea that you had really found out."

"But, you had considered the possibility."

He hung his head before lifting it enough for her to see his sad smile. "I smelled you the first night. I was so shocked that you managed to get that close." He shrugged. "I'm a sap, though. I've always found your scent calming."

"You must be broken, then, cause you're probably the only one." She blushed and kicked at the ground. "I don't know what to make of this, Ben. Before tonight, it was just some dumbass theory I was using as an excuse to scare myself. Now? Now it's really real. No possible camera manipulation."

She sniffed as the memory of her fear resurfaced. "I know, Mal. You had to know, though." She met his eyes and felt her blush spread at the hungry look in his eyes. "I needed you to know."

She gave a curt nod and turned to move to the door. "Mal!" She paused on the porch steps. "I'll see you at school on Monday?"

She gave another nod and hurried inside. Trying not to flinch as the door latch clicked behind her, she leaned against the metal object. With a steadying breath, she made her way up to her room.

Evie was waiting there, her hopeful smile dropping at the sight of Mal's tear stained face. "Oh, Mal, I'm so sorry."

"Why is everyone saying that?" She slammed her door and moved to the bed to scream into a pillow. "Ben, and now you. Why are you all sorry?"

"So, it's true."

"Of course it's true! Why is that reason for being sorry? We knew it was true when this whole mess started. Nothing has changed."

"You won't go out with him now." Mal's grip on the pillow tightened. "What about the footage? What are you going to do with it?"

Mal's anger sputtered out. "Nothing, E. I'm not going to do anything with it. I never was." She dropped on to the bed and Evie wrapped a comforting arm around her. "I just didn't imagine that I would end up wanting it to not be true."

"The date went well, then, right?"

Mal let out a water sigh and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Yeah, E, the date went really well. It was sweet, and charming. Hell, it was almost magical."

"I'm so sorry, sweetie." Mal nodded as the tears started, again. "Come here and let it out."

She lay her head on the blue haired girl's shoulder and cried until she couldn't anymore. She tried to tell her friend about the date, the lake and the reveal, but it kept getting caught in her throat. Mal wasn't sure when she finally fell asleep, but she was soon blinking into the morning light. Evie was sprawled across the foot of her bed, all her usual elegance abandoned in true deep slumber.

She coughed, throat dry from her weeping the night before. Evie stirred at the sound, gave an unladylike snore and then settled back to sleep. Mal smiled and carefully got out of bed to retrieve some water.

She shuffled to the bathroom and looked at herself in her mirror. Her eyes were puffy and she couldn't place the look in them at first. Broken. She was hurt and broken.

"Dammit, Mal. You really started to like him." She got her water and scowled after the cup was empty. "You've become such a sap."

She shuffled back into her room, only to hear an odd sound coming from where she had tossed her jacket the night before. Confused, she picked it up to rifle through the pockets. As she was trying to find the source, something fell out and hit the floor.

"Wassat?"

She looked toward the bed to see Evie blinking sleepily at her feet. "I don't know. Go back to sleep."

"No, I'm awake now." To prove her point she struggled her way off the bed. "Is that your phone?"

"No. I gave mine to my aunt. It finally crapped out on me so she's going to contact the provider to see if she can get a deal or something." She picked up the alien device and realised it was an old flip phone. "I didn't know she'd gotten a replacement so fast. How did that get in there?"

She flipped it over and dropped it in shock. "Oh, nice, Mal! You trying to break this one already?"

"It's Ben's." Evie hissed a denial. "No. For real."

She picked it up, again, and held it out for Evie to see. Her eyes scanned the back and she squealed. There, on the plate covering the battery, was his name written in sharpie. The script was sloppy and clearly done by an adolescent hand.

The device vibrated and the girls screamed. With shaky fingers, Mal flipped it over and open. The screen indicated a received message from the one and only Ben Kingsley.

"Open it."

"No."

Silence took over the room until it vibrated again with another message, causing them to scream, again. "Open it." Mal groaned and hit the button. "What does it say?"

"Tag?" She clicked to the next one. "Good night, Dragon Lady."

Evie sighed, clearly swooning on her behalf. "He sent them all night. I'm just going to skip to the most recent one so you don't suffer cardiac arrest from all the mush." Mal ignored her protests. "Do you wanna know what this one says? Cause it's pretty much the worst."

Her friend quieted obediently and let her read it. "I'm sorry for last night. The phone is the one I had when I was in grade school, nothing flashy or new. You can transfer it over to your aunt's plan or leave it as it is. You can even change the number. Be happy."

She paused as she started clicking through the texts in earnest. "The way the sun hits your hair makes you look like a fairy." She clicked through a few more. "It was like a day dream I had in class had come to life."

"I'm sorry for being so weird, I just wanted you to know."

"Mal," Evie took a deep breath and a smile took over her face. "I think he really likes you."

After a purposefully work filled day, Mal spent the night re-reading the texts he had sent. She was admittedly a little bummed that the texts hadn't continued throughout the day. She mulled over the idea of texting him back, but backed down every time.

She tried to act like her usual self on Monday. "Are you going to keep avoiding him?" She jumped when Evie sidled up to the locker next to hers. "I'm not sure if that's going to be possible."

Mal shrugged and checked her phone. "I'm gonna try and keep on like I have been. I think the best way to act like nothing is wrong is to act like nothing wrong. I think."

She closed her locker and took a deep steadying breath. Evie intwined their arms, like always. The halls felt like they always did, too full and too loud. No ones eyes cast accusing glances her way. No one glared, at least no one besides the usual suspects.

Then, he was there and waiting at the door of her home room. "Hi." She paused, forcing herself to keep eye contact. "So, none of my texts bounced back, which makes me think you didn't have the line shut down and transferred to your aunt's."

"I need to talk to my aunt, but I think I'll keep it?" She bit her lip to stop from smirking at his surprised face. "I figure I can pay you and take a little of the burden off my aunt. She won't let me."

"And you think I will?"

She playfully brushed nonexistent lint off his jacket. "Because it would make me happy. Which, from what your text said, is what you want."

He blinked in shock. Her heart pounded as she realised she had taken him by surprise. They stayed like that for a few seconds, her smiling up at him and him staring down at her.

"Dammit." His lopsided grin took over his face. "You are quite the little wordsmith. I'm going to have watch out for you."

She looked him over and realised that he was actually a sufficient distance away from her. It reminded her of what had transpired. It was her turn to be surprised as she realised she had nearly forgotten the incident at the lake. She'd even initiated touching.

"Ben, I am so sorry." He shook his head, smile falling just enough to let her know she had hurt him. "I shouldn't have been so flippant. I don't want you to assume that I-"

He raised his hands in an effort to calm her. "I understand, Mal. I have a naturally calming presence." His voice dropped into an exaggerated whisper. "It's a wolf thing."

"Really?"

"No." She blew raspberries at him in retaliation for his chuckle. "I'm just good at public speaking. You, know, with my dad being a senator and all."

"I hate you."

His eyes dimmed, "I know."

The final warning bell rang, and she didn't know how they had missed the first one. She pointed lamely toward the door. He looked over his shoulder, remembering where they were.

"Right." He stepped aside and opened the door for her. "Listen, the phone line isn't that much. Ten bucks a month, and no internet. First month is on me, cause I can."

She rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to whack him. Her classmates acted as if she hadn't been joking with a real life werewolf. They simply didn't know and she did.

That was when it hit her. She knew something all of these privileged young upstarts didn't. She was friends with the son of a senator, who was also most likely a werewolf as well.

Head high, she went to the back of classroom and her seat next to Evie. "You were out there a while." Mal shrugged and pulled out her sketch book like always. "I got grossed out and came in a few seconds in. You two are so mushy."

Mal snorted. "See, I was lying just then. You know why? Because you two are as awkward as two fish floundering outside of water. It's disgusting and embarrassing and it smells like high school virginity."

"Evie. You're a high school virgin." The girl blushed and her mouth dropped open. "That thing you did with Chad doesn't count. Don't argue, E, it just doesn't."

After their homeroom meet up, Ben simply waited to say hi to her as she went from class to class and left without fuss. It felt weird to her. Evie was miserable to deal with due to it as well. She was huffy and impossible.

"Evie, just let it go." Mal followed her to their old dorm, dragging her feet. "Why are you being so mopey? It's my dating life I'm flushing down the toilet. Also, why do I need a dress for Homecoming? I'm clearly not going."

"Oh, that's what you think!" She pulled the girl into the room, door slamming behind them. "I will have you know that you are going. Most likely with Ben. I have a plan, Mal, and you are going to bend to my will, as well as my dress fitting schedule."

Mal couldn't help laughing at her outburst. The girls tried to remain focused on homework after Evie finished pinning her to death. She nearly fell asleep as they finished watching the assigned webcast for their psych class.

"I gotta go home, E." Evie mumbled nonsense, already out. "Yeah, okay."

As she was walking home, she shivered in the dark and tried not to look over her shoulder, too much. Prior to all this, night time had been her favourite time to be active. It hid her hooligan activities and made her feel safe. Since Ben, all that had changed. She'd almost made it to the front door when her phone rang, making her scream like a ninny.

"Who?" She flipped open the phone and held to her ear with a shaky hand. "Um, who is this?"

"Mal Faye?" She looked at the phone in confusion. "I'm sorry to call you, but I wanted to reach out to you. It's Belle Kingsley. Ben's mom."

"Yes." She grimaced at her stutter. "Hi, Mrs. Kingsley, thank you for letting Ben set-up this phone for me. I will be paying you back."

"Oh, right. That is good to know." She paused, "About the phone. Listen, Mal, I wanted to invite you to dinner. Our son has made us aware of what happened the other night. I think it's time we talk."

"Yes." Mal ran a hand through her hair, eyes wide. "I mean, that makes sense. When?"

"I know that you work at the cafe on the weekend. I see you there sometimes." Mal could hear the older woman smiling though the line. "So weekends are dodgy. Will Thursday be all right. Not to make things uncomfortable before you even get here, but that's family dinner night. It's the only night I can guarantee it won't just be you and I staring at an empty table."

"Yes. Right. Time?"

"6?"

"I will be there at 6."

She stared at the device long after the connection had been ended. Unable to process the phone call entirely, she slowly began putting the pieces together. Her fingers somehow caught up before her brain could and she sent a text to Evie.

Running on auto pilot, she went inside. Hurrying up the stares, yelling that she wasn't hungry to no one, she fell into her bed. When things finally did settle down in her head, she purposefully ignored the numerous notifications that her phone dinged out as Evie began her furious demand for details.

 _A/N: Reposted for a slight error made ragrding what dance the dress fitting was for. I knew it was homecoming and I didn't care when I was editing the first time I guess. My mistake. Please forgive me. Much love from this cheeseball writer._


	7. Chapter 7

She gulped as she approached the house. It wasn't something that was easily accomplished. She'd left her bike leaning against the brick fence that gave the Kingsley family the privacy equivalent to that of royalty.

Her hands were shaky and cold as she reached forward to use the ornate knocker, shaped like a lions head. There wasn't a doorbell that she could see, just the knocker.

The sound echoed in her eyes long after the knocker was left against the door. "I'll get it." She heard the muffled sounds of a hastened argument. "No, Lumiere, I said I'll get it."

She took a quick step back as the ornate door swung open to reveal a tall smirking man with salt and pepper hair beaming down at her. Behind him Ben was working to school his face into a mask of calm, but his chest was was moving too quickly and his eyes were a touch too manic for him to look completely at ease. She met the taller man's gaze and took another cautious step back.

"I was invited to dinner. My name is Mal Faye." She licked her lips and suppressed the urge to bolt. "Mrs. Knightly invited me."

"Yes, Miss Faye. I'm Lumiere, the valet. So lovely to finally meet you." He leaned over and stage whispered conspiratorially, "not just from Madame Belle. The young upstart they call a son is rather obsessed. I recommend running and applying for a restraining order."

"Haha!" Ben moved forward then and urged Lumiere back into the entry way. "Such a kidder, that one." He licked his lips and gave the man one last dark look over his shoulder. "He was just getting back to his job of attending my father. Weren't you?"

Lumiere nodded solemnly, but passed Mal one last cheeky wink before disappearing out of sight. Ben leaned against the door frame and smirked down at her. She shoved her hands into her pockets and rocked on her heals to avoid having to meet his gaze.

"You agreed to have dinner with my family." She huffed and rolled her eyes to the sky at his pleased tone. "You agreed to meet my parents."

"Yeah, well," Mal swiped some hair behind her ear and dared to meet his eyes, which were twinkling with mischief. "Listen, lets just get through this, okay? I just want to survive this dinner and get on with our lives."

Ben nodded enthusiastically and leaned in close as if they were co-conspirators. "I wanna kiss you." She was stunned into silence as he planted a chaste kiss on her cheek. "They'll love you."

She didn't have the heart to reiterate that she simply wanted to survive. To hell if his parent's liked her! She just didn't want to end up on some bad anti-werewolf agenda list. Then there was that his dad was a senator, so getting on any bad list of his was an awful prospect.

"Right." Ben gently took her hand and led her into the house. "You aren't just rich, are you? You're filthy freaking rich. Like, when I die, heaven better look at least half this lovely."

"You believe in heaven?"

Mal shrugged and rubbed her free hand on her sweater sleeve. "I don't know. Won't know until I really do kick the bucket, I guess. What about you lot? Do wolves believe in heaven?"

"Why not? Bible doesn't say werewolves don't exist."

She snickered as he wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "I suppose it doesn't. Very convenient that."

"We are actually catholic." She laughed out right as he began saying something in latin. "That was the holy prayer. I was not an altar boy, but I was in the choir."

She laughed even harder, snorting at the mental image the news conjured. She didn't know what he looked like as a child, and instead of faking, her mind simply shrunk the current Ben to the size of a seven year old and shoved him into a choir of other youths. He chuckled along with her and met her gaze, eyes still bright with humour.

"And this is the ground floor study. My father prefers to entertain guests in here, unless its business. Then he meets them in his private study in the west wing. It's much more intimidating and disconcertingly dark. He likes scaring people who meet him at home for business."

"He likes to keep the two separate?"

Ben nodded and guided her to the loveseat by the fire. "Home is where he wants to come to decompress from the troubles of the government and the district. Here he doesn't have to work so hard to make people happy."

"I'm sure Mrs. Kingsley appreciates that."

"I do." Mal whipped around, ripping her hand from Ben's and raising them as if in defence. "It's good to finally meet you, Mal. My husband is finishing up a call, unfortunately. We'll get seated at the table and he should join us shortly."

Mal nodded stiffly, but didn't move until Ben began guiding her by the shoulders from the room. She didn't want to leave. The study was nice and warm and small. The more of the house she saw, it's sure size alone, was enough to make her sick.

Ben guided her into the dining room and managed to catch her as she instinctively turned on her heel to flee. "I'll manage from here, Ben. Why don't you go check on your father?" He opened his mouth to protest, Mal assumed, but ultimately did as his mother asked. "Now, that we're alone I can tell you this wasn't meant to scare you. Despite how my husband acts, this isn't a court room. We aren't your judge and jury. Adam just can't quite shake his lawyer roots."

Mal nodded, not sure what she was agreeing with. Belle continued through the dining room and showed Mal to a seat at a table she considered to be a bit small for the rest of the houses grander. After taking her seat, Belle settled into one to her right instead of one the open chairs at the ends of the table.

"I know this is all a bit much to take in. I'm sorry things have come about this way. It's not the normal way, but messy starts seem to run in the family. I stumbled upon Adam's secret by complete accident, as well. I was working a part time job as a clerk at his families firm and had been running an after hours errand when I happened across Adam in the middle of one of his cycles."

She snorted, and it was such a normal sound out of such an elegant woman, that Mal nearly choked. "Adam Kingsley was not easy to deal with. When he was in his twenties, before we got married and he calmed down, the man was a real asshole. I nearly left him. Honest to God, I was ready to leave him to it."

"What made you change your mind?"

Belle's eyes grew distant as she looked back on the memory. "His father had died the year before we met. He was feeling pressured and like the world was falling down around him. The rest of the board members weren't the most understanding of his youthful energy and ideas. The man wasn't the most wonderful to deal with, but the beast? He was kind and gentle. I liked him better that way for a good while until the man started to get his act together."

"I don't understand." Belle hummed curiously. "Why did you stick around, though? Why not just leave in the beginning when you found out?"

"He was lonely, he needed an assistant, and I had several years to go on my degree. I had worked as an unofficial veterinarian assistant the summer prior. Things were much more lax when I was in school, now that I think about it." Mal chuckled as the woman somehow set her at ease in a den of wolves. "Anyway, I knew the basics of animal handling and was always told I had a calming nature with wayward beasts. Adam Kingsley was most definitely a wayward beast in his youth."

"Mrs. Kingsley, are you one of them?"

Belle's tinkling laugh filled the room and made Mal blush. "Am I a werewolf? Heavens no. I'm human, just like you." Mal felt her shoulders sag in relief. "I couldn't be one even if I tried. There's a sort of magic to it, inherently, but the gene can only be passed through birth."

"Oh, thank God."

"But you do have to be catholic." Mal's relief died under Belle's serious gaze. "I'm kidding, Mal. You need to relax. You're safe here with us. No wolf has killed a human in throws of a change in ages. We keep a close eye on the population of were's under our charge."

"You can't tell her everything in one night, Mom." Ben's strained complaint made both woman turn to see the men entering the room. "She needs to be eased in. Keyword there is "eased."

"Ben, son, it's a bit late for that." Adam Kingsley was a formidable man and Mal felt herself shrink into the cushion of her seat. "You've gone and gotten caught. She needs to know what she's involved in. The Perrault's aren't happy about your attachment to her. Or the way you dumped that brat of theirs."

"Dear, that's a bit harsh." Belle sighed and rose to greet her husband with an affection but brief embrace. "Still, very true. She wasn't the nicest girl. Bit of gold digger, actually."

"She's still my friend, mom." Ben moved to sit opposite Mal and rolled his eyes. "She will be when she starts talking to me, anyway."

"Good luck with that. I heard she started making out with Chad under the bleachers to spite you." She wanted to bite off her tongue when she remembered the rest of her audience. "Just a rumour, probably. Can't be sure."

"She is something else, and we'll leave that topic on a high note." Belle made her way to the seat on the end from the door. "Sit, dear. Dinner will be out momentarily."

"Don't mind us, Mal. We like a bit of wine with our dinner. Strong French heritage and all."

Mal shook her head and watched as a handful of servants brought breads, salads, soups and drinks. Wine was a served to the adults and lemon water for Ben and her. She was afraid to touch anything as they were served their soup and salad starters.

"What's for dinner?"

Belle's eyes twinkled over the rim of her wine glass. "Just some basics. Nothing to be concerned over."

Ben guffawed and glared between his parents. "You didn't. You did?"

"It's a wonderful dish that your father and I happen to enjoy and only request on special occasions." Belle winked at her son, and Mal realised that she was where Ben got his cheeky side from. "An old standard, you could say."

"This is Soup du Jour. A favourite of my Belle's." Adam smiled adoringly at his wife. "I assume we will also be subject to beef ragout and a lovely pie before we settle for chocolate tart and coffee and tea in the study to continue your crash course in Aurodon's furrier history."

Ben groaned and focused on his food. Mal noticed his blush, though. It touched the tops of his ears and made her smile fondly at the reaction. His embarrassment eased her mind a bit until it started to nag at her.

She discretely shot Ben a text asking about his dark mood. She barely noticed him respond since his head was already down. Her phone screen lit up soon enough, though, and her own blush deepened at the text's contents.

It was the first meal my mother ate here the night she found about my dad. Technically, their first date. In a weird non-date way.

"Oh."

Don't get caught with your phone out. My parent's are pretty strict about family dinner.

She snapped her phone shut, wincing at the very not subtle sound, and tried to be as nonchalant as possible as she put it back in her pocket. She heard a grunt and looked up to see Ben's father looking between them. His expression was not a happy one.

"That's one, Ben."

Ben nodded and shot Mal a conspiratorial smile before returning his focus to his meal. As predicted by Mr. Kingsley, the meal progressed with Beef Ragout and a blueberry pie. By the time desert was taken away, Mal was so full and entertained she barely noticed how much time had passed.

"Shall we adjourn to the study, Belle?" Mrs. Kingsley sighed as if perplexed, before gracefully lifting herself from her seat to join her husband. "I feel there are a few more details we must cover before sending Miss Faye on her way."

Ben gave his watch a quick glance before rushing to Mal's side. For her part, she was hesitating by her chair, not sure if she was supposed to follow. He offered his hand and she took it in an attempt to find an anchor.

"It's getting late, Dad."

His father waived off his concern. "Not terribly late, just yet. Won't be but another hour or so, I should imagine."

He leaned in close so Mal felt his breath against her ear. "It's the "or so" part I worry about. As much as I would love to keep you, having you stay the night in one of the spare rooms would not be taken well by the council."

"There's a council?" She cringed as her panic laden cry echoed through the entrance hall. "Sorry. Seriously, Ben, a council?"

"It's not as scary as it sounds. They meet once a quarter unless there's an emergency." He tried to muster a smile, but couldn't manage it. "That being said, Audrey's dad is on the council and he's difficult, and only some of it is because his in-laws have very "traditional" ideas."

"That means what?"

She was so stunned by the most recent revelation that she let Ben guide her blindly back into the study and sit her down on the loveseat. He didn't let go of her hand as he joined her. She blinked as she took in his parents sitting in matching winged back chairs across from them.

"Well, Mal, prior to the last Century or so, we wolves tried to keep the gene pool all in the family, so to speak." Mr. Kingsley paused as an elderly woman arrived with a cart of the promised coffee, tea and chocolate tart. "Thank you, Mrs. Potts. Decaf for the children."

She served the drinks and smiled when Mal simply asked for a scant amount of sugar in hers. "You look dreadfully pale, dear. This should warm you right up."

Mrs. Potts took her leave when everyone was sorted and Mr. Kingsley busied himself with a slice of tart. "You know how the royal family is werewolves." Mal choked on her coffee. "Careful. Wolves have lived amongst humans for many millennia. Our roots go all the way back to Ancient Greece. It's a balance between man and beast. Unfortunately, the myths and legends are built off the worst of us. So when there's a high population in one area, we tend to from packs. In such situations, of course, there's an alpha. The Kingsley's have been the alpha family in this region since Auradon was established."

"That makes sense, but can we go back to the royal family being like you guys? England's royal family is made up of werewolves?"

"Wolves are natural leaders." Mal heard herself laugh in disbelief. "You can't honestly say you're surprised."

She shrugged and considered her coffee. "I just can't really process all this in one sitting, I think. There's just a lot."

Belle smiled knowingly. "I know. If it's any consolation, at least you're getting the answers up front. I had to stumble through on my own and figure things out using cryptic clues with no help from the source."

She very blatantly did not look at her husband as he scowled beside her. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Am I still breathing?" He grumbled and shoved the remainder of his treat into his mouth. "Don't mind the child that is my husband. Now, since the basics have been covered I will allow Ben to take you home, if you're finished. Please, don't feel rushed."

"Oh, no!" She blanched at her own eager cry. "I mean, I'm tired and I need to try and understand all this. Home sounds great."

"Excellent. So, we'll put a pin in this for now and see you next Thursday." Mal heard herself release an odd squeak. "I would love to say this is all that needs to happen, but with discovery comes responsibility. Once we feel you are educated enough, you can stop coming to dinners if you so choose. Until that time, we will continue to monitor the situation."

Mal sat stunned in the passenger seat of Ben's sedan. She considered that it was less conspicuous than his Vespa or the motorcycle she's spied in the garage that was about the size of her house. The car was warm, cozy, and a punk band played at a low volume over the speakers.

"Why is this happening, Ben?"

He sighed and parked outside her aunt's house. "I just," he paused and chuckled quietly. "I really like you. I know you're scared and you probably don't believe me, but I desperately needed you to know this part of my world."

"I'm not saying I'm okay with this." She chewed her lip and rested her hand on the handle. "I'm less freaked out, though. At least it's not transferable."

"You're a dragon, Mal. You're fierce and powerful and stronger than any girl I've met before." His hand gently gripped her chin, turning her to face him. "I won't say it because I know it could be scarier than what I am, but know that I do, you know. Deeply."

"Huh."

 _A/N: Dinner, done! For now. We're getting close guys. I hope it was worth wait. Reviews are appreciated. Much love from this cheeseball writer._


End file.
